Long Beach man gets 20 years for fatal Channel Park shooting

A Long Beach man was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday for gunning down Tyrenzo Brown during a party at the Channel Park Homes in 2014.

Antonio Webb, 25, pleaded guilty at trial in March to felony charges of first-degree manslaughter and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon after he fired shots outside the housing complex, at 500 Centre Street, just a block away from Long Beach Police Department headquarters. Webb was also sentenced to five years’ post release supervision.

According to Nassau County district attorney Madeline Singas, on Sept. 27, 2014, at approximately 12:40 a.m., a group of people were gathered at a tattoo party at the Channel Park Homes near 5 Birch Court. After an altercation between two other men, Webb, armed with a pistol, fired several times into the group.

Brown, 28, who had visited his daughter at the apartment complex earlier, was shot multiple times. He was taken to South Nassau Communities Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Brown’s death shook the North Park community, amid a rash of shootings near Channel Park at the time.

Residents, clergy, community leaders and politicians gathered at 500 Centre St. days after the shooting for a rally in response to Brown’s death — hours after Webb was arraigned in Long Beach City Court. Local leaders called for a reaction from a community that they said had been complacent about gun violence for too long.

According to Singas, the shooting stemmed from a dispute between Webb and a friend of Brown’s over a woman. Webb fled the scene of the shooting and was found a few days later in the same housing complex where the shooting occurred and apprehended by Nassau County and Long Beach police after a chase.

“This defendant’s unconscionable recklessness cost a man his life and left his two young children without a father,” Singas said in a statement. “I have said it time and time again – gun violence will not be tolerated in our communities – and we will vigorously prosecute these senseless crimes. I hope this sentence provides some measure of comfort to Mr. Brown’s family.”